The Rainforest World Music Festival is one event Kuching folks always look forward to.

Every year, thousands of music lovers from all over Malaysia as well as other parts of the world fly in to our normally quiet little town of Kuching to celebrate good music and turn the place upside down.

The festival has grown extremely popular over the years, attracting attention from both local and international media, to a phenomenal scale that even local residents here are surprised at.

I always like the Rainforest World Music Festival.

This ain't your typical run-of-the-mill rock concert. One of the most interesting aspects of the music fest is that the performers always bring along strange and peculiar musical instruments from their countries that no one here has ever seen, and along with that music that sounds totally different.

We're talking about drums that look like handbags.

Guitars that look like coffins.

And pipes that look like they are made out from the TV antenna at my house.

The festival is also the only time throughout the entire year that I can play host to my friends from KL.

Angelina Jolie's half-sister from KL, Christy Jolie-Yeoh.

Instead of always asking them to layan me whenever I'm in KL, this one of the rare times I can repay my favours and show them the best Kuching has got to offer.

My experience with the Rainforest World Music Festival this year is different from the previous two years that I attended.

After finding out that my coverage of the festival for the past two years on kennysia.com has got quite a bit of attention (my blog entries was only second on Google after their official website), I e-mailed the organisers asking if they could put me on their media list.

I wasn't putting in much hope since kennysia.com isn't exactly a "real" publication like a newspaper or magazine anyway, but I figured it was worth a try. Hey, after all they did put through some obscure publications with a circulation so small no one has even seen it in newstands.

Behold, the power of blogs!

Surprisingly, not only did the chief of the Sarawak Tourism Board herself granted me media access to the festival, she hinted also that she might wanna further collaborate with me in the near future. How cool is that?

Holy crap, I always wanted to take that political-minister-hitting-on-the-all-important-gong photo and put it as front page headline news, like how newspapers here always do.

So this is the first time I attended the Rainforest World Music Festival not just as an audience, but as part of the media.

I must say, we get treated pretty well as the media. Among other perks, not only are we given free access to all three days of the festival, we are also allowed up close and personal to the stage so we could take really good photos.

18 months after I spoofed her Osim uZap ad, I finally get to ask her if she's upset by it.

Her reply: "No way, I thought it was damn hilarious!"

Thanks Marion. I can finally sleep well at night.

#5. The Black Umfolsi

What's there not to like about these guys?

All the way from Zimbabwe, this band is what African music is all about. Just look at the amount of fur they wear on stage.

"I can see things sideways"

I don't know what those white-coloured furry things they wore on their arms and legs are, but I think they might be African Polar Bears.

Here's a video of them teaching the crowd how to do African Aerobics.

So delightful, so catchy, so happifying. The Black Umfolsi band is like the African-version of Mika.

#4. The Throat-Singers From Tuva, Russia

These guys here look like your typical granddad on a rocking chair, but as soon as they open their mouth they can easily blow your panties off big time.

I sing like that too when I was trying to take a crap

"Throat-Singing" is an art originating from the Russian-Mongolia border.

They sound a bit like what would happen when Darth Vader did karaoke in Mongolian. But when the guys from Huun Huur Tu paired it with their traditional instruments and a DJ spinning in a background, the result was absolutely mind-blowing.

The crowd loves these guys.

Who would've thought a couple of oldies have the ability rock the thousands of revellers hot on the dance floor?

#3. Hot Bodies At The Rainforest Fest

For the guys, there are sizzling hot babes.

Babes.

Babes.

Babes.

Babes.

The girls there ain't missing out either. There were plenty of eye candy for their viewing pleasure.

In fact there were so many sweaty smelly half-naked guys at the festival, it was almost like the movie 300.

King Leonidas wants to PARTAYYYY.

#2 Nicole Tan's Antics

Nicole was really drama throughout the entire three days of the event.

On the first night of the festival, she met and had this HUGE crush on the violinist of the Scottish band Shooglenifty.

Honestly, I don't know what is so special about grandpa.

What does he have that I don't?

I mean, he looked like some homeless guy I would rescue from the streets.

Nicole Tan's boyfriend. Got a dollah?

On the third night of the festival, we encountered a vendor selling glowsticks.

I bought two each for ourselves. But that girl became so fascinated by those glowsticks she disappeared from our group. We couldn't even reach her on the phone.

Then some half an hour later, Nicole finally returned to us.

With her whole body all covered in those darn glowsticks.

Apparently, she got bored from all the musical performances on stage she decided to help the glowstick vendor sell his wares.

With a hot chick assisting him, that lucky bugger sold out all his glowsticks in half an hour.

WOW!! That was one beautiful entry. I actually saw you there, handsome. But you have too many girls surround you I don't think you'd see me. I was as close as out of nosiness to see the PRESS tag you were wearing and wonder which PRESS you were from as I never heard of you in any PRESS media before until I saw the word BLOG and impressed for the first time, blogger also got the media access.

i was pissed drunk....i think next year it should change it's name to Rainforest World Alcohol Festival. you are right....10000 of hot, sweaty half naked people drunk...dancing on a music they have never listen before...i bet when you are sober.."what kind of sh*tty music is this?"

im so pissed that i almost took my boxers off the 2nd day and i was halted from climbing onto a stage on the 3rd day...back in 2003 i managed to go upstage on the finale....hehehe...

Wow! it was so happening ... too bad i missed the Rainforest World Music Festival again... Last year i was in US for business. This year i missed again. i was in Penang on business... I need to wait for another year :'(

Kenny, thanks for showing the pictures. I bet you must have enjoyed yourself there...

Aseana Percussion Unit.I saw them perform in S'pore b4...Vry nice the music they played...Last time got one chinese guy with long hair...Very hot...And one indian guy, playing some instruement tat i nvr saw b4.Like a big wok...

loved the part about nicole showing up about half an hour later..hahaha..r u sure she was helping the vendor "sell" the glow sticks or "buy" them from him???hahaha...n e way youre hilarious man!!!
wish i was there too...

Fun and hillarious. Thanks for the laugh. Although I just stumbled upon your blog, I've read through your previous blogs, way back to the 1st blog u wrote here. Things has changed so much eh? Hope to see more of your writings in the future, i got demotivated to write somehow..

Thanks for the support Kenny. Really appreciate it. btw Alvin, that instrument that u saw me playing in Singapore is called a steel pan. Originates from Trinidad. We were supposed to bring it along for the festival but due to some 'technical' problems we couldnt. Anyway, we'll be playing on the 10th and 11th of Aug at Groove Junction Sri Hartamas (behind True Fitness) and on the 25th of Aug at mont kiara Sunrise Jazz Festival. Hope 2 see y'all there.

wah,u got media pass...i pay RM160 total for 2 day there...hope can see u next year...i wish i could get the pass!!!!T_T....very "suey" that saturaday coz i broke Eos 350D cf card pins..damn no cam for sunday...

Awwww too bad I missed the event last yeat! My parents went with their friends and I couldn't join them! Hopefully this year I'll be able to though *fingers crossed* ... great entry, hilarious to the max! :)

we are a young world-musical,Afro-pop folkand jazz African group in Republic of congo.and we want that all over in world our music be discovered.
indeed,we need to be invited in your festival if it is possible in 2009.
please,if it's possible specify for us the conditions to accoplish.
thinks

we are a young world-musical,Afro-pop folkand jazz African group in Republic of congo.and we want that all over in world our music be discovered.
indeed,we need to be invited in your festival if it is possible in 2009.
please,if it's possible specify for us the conditions to accoplish.
thinks